World of Warcraft: Dragonflight immediately catches the eye thanks to the open view of the Dragon Islands. It’s a very open expansion, and thanks to the new dragon riding feature, the player gets a new vehicle with a set of wings almost immediately. The player has to meet with dragons and defeat primalists, and the islands are a big place, so the player gets his own dragon. It’s a fantastic feature; I’ve had a lot of fun flying around even without chasing all the dragon glyphs and upgrading my dragon’s mouth and saddle.
Flying has always been a big part of World of Warcraft since its introduction in Burning Crusade expansion, but it was always withheld from the player until they saved up enough gold or gained enough favor with the reputation of the day. dragonflight simply gives you the keys once you set foot in the Dragon Islands and it’s a very strong point in favor of the new expansion. The islands are specially designed for flight, and there are impressive vertical cliffs and beautiful falls sweeping past stunning scenery.
If anything, it could be kite riding to Well. Coming back to Azeroth and revisiting old zones like Gilneas feels like slogging through molasses. It’s just an objective downgrade, like going from a car to a unicycle. I also kind of feel bad about the prospect of taking all the mounts in my stables and locking them away forever in favor of my new, better dragon. I’ve befriended a noble Steed of Light again legion
While dragon riding is delightful, I also worry about how this feature will age. Although it’s early days, we’ve seen fun game systems like this in the past legion
Right now I’m taking my time and smelling the roses on the dragon islands. It’s also fun tinkering with the various dragon customizations, choosing between an odd little fella with funny horns or a more noble, respectable dragon to carry me around to my important diplomatic duties. But for dragon riding to reach its true potential, it must continue to grow and evolve, either with our current companions or with a revamp of the ancient menagerie of mounts in each player’s stable.
